Google and Dish put in the largest bids, with Amazon and Yahoo trailing behind. Dish's bid of $1.9 billion is believed to be of the most interest to the sellers, though insiders say it seems possible that at the end of the process there is no sale at all.

Earlier this summer, Hulu was put up for sale by co-owners Comcast, News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Providence Equity after receiving an unsolicited takeover overture.

Hulu offers streaming of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other online media either for free with ads, or for a fee on Hulu Plus. Hulu Plus still has ads, but offers more content.